One Of Best Years For Jesse James Days

Cooler than normal weather, a special guest and several new activities made the 2014 Jesse James Days one of the best in recent years, according to Gregg Sweeten, fire chief of the Pineville Fire Department, host of the four-day celebration.

"We are still counting up money and have a few bills to come in, but it is probably one of the best years we have ever had," Sweeten said. "People came and stayed around. Even when we had the thunderstorm warning, people stayed around because they were having such a good time."

Sweeten said normally the fire department clears $15,000 to $18,000. He expects this year to be over $20,000.

"For the first time in years, Wednesday night had an increase (revenue at the cook shack)," Sweeten said. "We had looked at cutting out Wednesday night and going to just three days, but we had several people out this year. Lunch on Friday, we normally sell about $250 to $300 and this year we were right at $650."

With the increase in demand for food and increase in crowds, the debut of a new cook shack, bathrooms and stage came in handy.

"I heard a lot of compliments on the new buildings," Sweeten said. "They did what they were designed to do. One night, we had two people cooking hamburgers and two people cooking funnel cakes. We probably had 10-12 people working at one time just to keep up. In the old cook shack, there was only room for about six people and we could have never kept up."

Sweeten said it seemed like those attending the celebration enjoyed themselves.

"The whole event went really well," Sweeten said. "One lady told me it reminded her of when she was a kid."

Special Guest

The grand marshal of the parade this year was the fire department's special guest, Tyrone Power Jr., son of lead actor Tyrone Power, who played the title character in the movie "Jesse James" that was filmed in Pineville and the surrounding area in 1938.

Power was in town for three days, giving him a chance to see some of the locations where his father filmed as well as greeting the public at the celebration.

"I am having a great time," Power said Saturday night in the Jesse James Room at the McDonald County Historical Society's Museum on the Square. "I have enjoyed it very much. The people are so wonderful; so friendly. They couldn't have been nicer."

Power attended a meet and greet on Friday evening, served as the grand marshal for the parade on Saturday and met the public in the museum Saturday night.

"I have loved being here," Power said. "The only thing was I didn't have time to do any fishing."

Parade Winners

The grand champion winner of the parade was the Ponderosa Ricochet Riders, the western re-enactment troop.

Other winners by category are as follows:

• Cars -- McDonald County Telephone, first place, 1965 Pontiac Bonneville; Smith Auto , second place, 2014 Ford pickup; Car Quest, third, 1965 Chevrolet;

• Marching Unit -- McDonald County High School J.R.O.T.C. Color Guard, first; Pineville/Jane American Legion Post 392, second;

• Floats -- Pineville United Methodist Church, first; McDonald County Recycling Center, second; Jesse James Pageant winners, third

• Youth Group -- Girl Scout Troop No. 70547, first; McDonald County Youth Football Cheerleaders, second;

• Commercial -- ADT Services, first; AJ's Auto Repair, second; Grissom Auto Body, third

• Horse -- Underwood's Crag-O-Lea, first; Paul and Elayne Nelson, second; Easton Sherman, third.